Bhabha, Homi Jehangir (1909-1966)

Indian theoretical physicist who made several important explanations of the behaviour of subatomic particles. He was also responsible for the development of research and teaching of advanced physics in India, and for the establishment and direction of the nuclear-power programme in India. Bhabha was born in Bombay and studied in the UK at Cambridge, doing research there until 1939. He was in India when World War II broke out. At the Bangalore Institute of Science he was put in charge of a department investigating cosmic rays. The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research was established in Bombay 1945 with Bhabha as director. Bhabha made major contributions to the early development of quantum electrodynamics, a part of high-energy physics. A primary gamma ray dissipates its energy in the formation of electron showers. In 1935, Bhabha became the first person to determine the cross-section (and thus the probability) of electrons scattering positrons. This phenomenon is now known as Bhabha scattering.